July 31 and August 1 will be recorded as the crucial dates when the history of Myanmar’s ongoing tragedy was written. In the first case, the acting President of Myanmar, Myint Swe, announced the fourth extension of the ‘emergency’ for another six months, which is in violation of the 2008 Constitution. In the second instance, the military regime decided to release several political prisoners and even reduced the sentences imposed on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the deposed President Win Myint. Ms. Suu Kyi was also moved out of prison to house arrest. However, these developments do not signal the dawn of a democratic and peaceful Myanmar.
Emergency and elections
The extension of the emergency further delays the elections proposed by the military. Min Aung Hlaing, the coup orchestrator, justified the extension due to the failure to establish ‘normalcy’ in large parts of the country. However, it is this pursuit of ‘normalcy’ that has resulted in suffering, with ACLED, or the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (a disaggregated data collection, analysis, and crisis mapping project) reporting that Myanmar civilians witness two and a half times more violence than those in Afghanistan.
